Reflections on Proverbs 24

 Proverbs 24 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Don't be jealous of crooks or want to be their friends.
   
2. All they think about and talk about is violence and cruelty.
   
3. Use wisdom and understanding to establish your home;
   
4. let good sense fill the rooms with priceless treasures.
   
5. Wisdom brings strength, and knowledge gives power.
   
6. Battles are won by listening to advice and making a lot of plans.
   
7. Wisdom is too much for fools! Their advice is no good.
   
8. No one but troublemakers think up trouble.
   
9. Everyone hates senseless fools who think up ways to sin.
   
10. Don't give up and be helpless in times of trouble.
    
11. Don't fail to rescue those who are doomed to die.
    
12. Don't say, "I didn't know it!" God can read your mind. He watches each of us and knows our thoughts. And God will pay us back for what we do.
    
13. Honey is good for you, my children, and it tastes sweet.
    
14. Wisdom is like honey for your life-- if you find it, your future is bright.
    
15. Don't be a cruel person who attacks good people and hurts their families.
    
16. Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.
    
17. Don't be happy to see your enemies trip and fall down.
    
18. The LORD will find out and be unhappy. Then he will stop being angry with them.
    
19. Don't let evil people worry you or make you jealous.
    
20. They will soon be gone like the flame of a lamp that burns out.
    
21. My children, you must respect the LORD and the king, and you must not make friends with anyone who rebels against either of them.
    
22. Who knows what sudden disaster the LORD or a ruler might bring?
    
23. Here are some more sayings that make good sense: When you judge, you must be fair.
    
24. If you let the guilty go free, people of all nations will hate and curse you.
    
25. But if you punish the guilty, things will go well for you, and you will prosper.
    
26. Giving an honest answer is a sign of true friendship.
    
27. Get your fields ready and plant your crops before starting a home.
    
28. Don't accuse anyone who isn't guilty. Don't ever tell a lie
    
29. or say to someone, "I'll get even with you!"
    
30. I once walked by the field and the vineyard of a lazy fool.
    
31. Thorns and weeds were everywhere, and the stone wall had fallen down.
    
32. When I saw this, it taught me a lesson:
    
33. Sleep a little. Doze a little. Fold your hands and twiddle your thumbs.
    
34. Suddenly poverty hits you and everything is gone!

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The highlights of Proverbs 24 include:

• Evildoers - Don't envy or worry about evildoers. They are troublemakers and have no future. There is nothing about them to envy. Instead, fear the Lord. In Him there is life and a future.
  
• Wisdom - It is wisdom that builds the house and wisdom that wins the battle. Wisdom is better than strength. It is sweet like honey. With wisdom there is hope and a future. But wisdom is inaccessible to a fool.
  
• Justice - Justice is not partial, acquitting the guilty or testifying against a neighbor without cause. It will go well with those who convict the guilty. It is not good for one to turn his head, ignoring the one who is being taken off to his death or helping out one who is stumbling. The One who weighs hearts will consider this.
  
• Laziness vs Industriousness - The approach of poverty can be subtle for the lazy. Just a little more sleep than necessary or a little extra folding of the arms to rest and suddenly those things that needed to be done to get a crop out or to harvest it, or whatever it is are not done and it is too late to do them. Then there is no income to be had and poverty is at the door. It is best to put first things first. For instance, get out the crops and then build the house. If there are no crops there will be nothing to eat in the house.